ANOREXIA EXPLAINED, AND MY ANOREXIA

2008-01-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Anorexia is the serious loss of body weight and muscle mass. This is caused by several factors and these factors are explained further on in this summary. Anorexics have a distorted view of their own body appearance and of their weight. They fear gaining weight and feel that they are getting fat even when they clearly are not. They are usually at least 15-18% below their normal body weight for their height. they have restricted their eating to patterns of 1000 calories or less. Often as little as 300-500 calories a day. Anorexics often are fatigued, have muscle aches and often experience headaches. People who suffer from anorexia need intense psychological therapy to help better understand the issues that are causing their preoccupation with weight loss and malnutrition.

Culture
In today's modern culture the extra thin woman is the sign of beauty. This wasn't always the case. In the 1800's, as is apparent from paintings and photographs back then, weight and big curves were considered a thing of beauty in a woman. A growing factor putting pressure on women to lose weight is our modern society. This triggers an obsession with a woman to fit in by having a stick thin figure. Models and movie stars on television all have body's of skin and bone, and they all get the handsome man. A size zero body for a woman is the "in thing" to have. We
need to take a good look at what we do as a society, especially in the movie and recording industry. They are the trend setters.

Genetics
A persons family history also plays a role in anorexia. If there is a history of anorexia or OCD in a persons family tree then that will make someone more susceptible to anorexia also. If anorexia is in your family tree then you need to be more careful not to trigger the disorder in your offspring. Educate them young if they are more at risk. Get counseling to those who are more susceptible and have a genetic link to anorexia.

Self Esteem
Low self- esteem is a common personality trait in those diagnosed with Anorexia. Perfectionism and social isolation often manifest themselves in anorexics. Although the social isolation often emerges after the anorexia begins. These people were often good in school and no problem to others. By focusing their attention on weight loss and their food, the person will ignore the problems that they often do not want to face. This is not true in all diagnosis of Anorexia but it is evident in a few of the diagnosed forms.

Stress, Rape, Physical or Sexual abuse
Traumatic events can often be found to be another cause that triggers anorexia.

Anorexia and OCD

It is often thought that OCD is different than anorexia. With anorexia the sufferer is constantly obsessing on staying thin, and they see the slightest looseness of their skin as a sign of fat. With OCD there is constant obsessions that need to be relieved with a compulsion. Anorexia is pure obsessions. But, up to a third of OCD sufferers experience some form of anorexia or other type of obsession with their food intake and diet. If an OCD sufferer obsesses about certain foods being harmful in some way then they will avoid them and alter their diet.

A study conducted by Yale and Brown of 94 anorexic woman found that 37% of them were officially diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder using the DSM IV criteria.

Does OCD cause anorexia? The short answer is yes, in a lot of cases it does. I am one of those cases and I will explain to you in the next paragraphs. OCD has been found to exist in about 1/3 of those diagnosed with anorexia. Those with OCD tend to obsess about nearly everything, and when that obsession is about chemicals or bad things in food, it can and often does lead to anorexia. In this case the anorexia can be treated much more successfully with SSRI"S. I found that when I took luvox for my OCD, my OCD symptoms of obsessions and compulsions eased by 70-80%. There are several triggers and causes to anorexia and each different cause must be treated differently in order to have a successful outcome against the anorexia.

MY OCD HAS LED TO MY ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN ANOREXIA

At the age of 7 I quickly developed OCD due to high fever convulsions. At the age of 9 I become grossed out when I heard about some diseased meat that had made it's way into some stores. The thought of the diseased meat, and also eating of a dead animal caused me to become a non meat eater. I avoided meat at all costs. My dad and grandmother noticed that I would only eat potatoes because i did not like meat, or the taste of vegetables. My dad and grandma used to yell at me at the dinner table to eat something nourishing. I would not. At the age of 11 I developed a bad flu. My flu lasted 3 weeks and would not subside as I would grow weaker and weaker. I was finally rushed to the hospital because I threw up blood. My diagnosis was malnutrition. Malnutrition brought on by my OCD causing me to be obsessed with only certain foods. Even my finger nails were very brittle and breaking all the time for a few years during this period. Poor and brittle nails are a clear sign of bad nutrition and anorexia. So I am a very clear example of how OCD can often lead to anorexia. It took me over 30 years to learn how to control my bouts with anorexia. But in my case it's important to point out that I also experienced bouts with binge eating too. I had brief periods in my preteen life when I was severely overweight. So no two people are alike when it comes to anorexia. That's why there is not a sure fire solution that I could give you on how to cure anorexia. I will briefly touch on several common solutions here, and will get into more detail on Anorexia in my upcoming book on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder entitled "THE STRANGER UPSTAIRS".

HOW I LEARNED TO CONTROL AND OVERCOME MY ANOREXIA

Before I briefly explain here how I overcame my bouts with anorexia please understand that my example is not a model for everyone. Each persons case with anorexia has different causes, and addressing the causes of each individual based on their symptoms and triggers of the disorder is the only way to treat anorexia in the sufferer. The anorexic must see a trained and experienced mental health specialist in order to get well and recover from this life threatening disorder. My Anorexia is caused by my OCD. I would say that I feel I have control over my Anorexia . Sure I have periods where I may starve myself but the starvation usually does not last more than a few days and I am pretty good at eating foods that are pretty high in nutrition. Although people around me laugh when ever I comment that I need to lose weight, they always tell me that I'm crazy if I think I need to lose weight. I am always encouraged by others to eat more. Although I do have very thin wrists I truly am trying to keep my wieght at 120 and that is the weight I really like to be. My weight does stay around the 128 mark and I know that is not a bad weight. I overcame my anorexia by slowly learning what proper foods I could eat that had high nutrients and low calories. Often times during my anorexic periods I would get light headed and nearly pass out. I am 5 foot 8 inches and at my lowest weight I weighed 116 pounds. I don't consider myself a severe anorexic, but for a man, 116 pounds is not a proper weight by any means. People around me would always ask me if I was sick. It got to be quite annoying.

"He believes that when families stop criticizing, stop judging and controlling, and instead just try to help and understand their loved one's struggle, that's when things start getting better."
husband of a recovering anorexic

UNDOING PAST NUTRITIONAL DAMAGE AND EVEN THE CURED ANOREXIC COULD VERY WELL HAVE HEALTH ISSUES LATER IN LIFE DUE TO THE NUTRIENTS THEY STARVED THEIR BODY FROM EARLIER IN LIFE.

For anorexic patients a complete health examination will be required along with future recording of weight. Gums or teeth must be checked, a doctor must also look for unusual heart rhythms, checking of bone density, changes with menstrual cycle and tests for anemia(low red blood cell count) and heart disease. Anorexia can also lead to smaller heart muscles.
I recall a recent study of patients admitted to hospitals for heart attacks. The study found that heavy overwieght people had a higher chance of surviving a heart attack than did skinnier people. The study never fully concluded why this was so. But my opinion for this is that overwieght people probly ate more protien and had stronger hearts compared with thinner people who ate less protien. Just a little something to think about.

Hormonal changes. Changes in reproductive hormones and in thyroid hormones can cause absence of menstruation (amenorrhea), infertility, bone loss and retarded growth.
Imbalance of minerals and electrolytes. Your body needs adequate levels of minerals, particularly calcium and potassium, in order to maintain the electric currents that keep your heart beating. Disruption of your body's levels of fluids and minerals creates an electrolyte imbalance. Unless restored, this imbalance can be life-threatening.
Nerve damage. Anorexia may cause brain and nerve damage, seizures and loss of feeling.
Digestive problems. Anorexia can cause constipation and bloating.

by john carcerano http://www.newjourneyrecovery.com/